The Easiest Wins Of My LIFE (Chess)

I'm playing on Chess.com -- these aren't sponsored videos but the site seems pretty cool.
Chess has been having a resurgence in popularity this year so I have finally acquiesced to semi-popular demand and started to play a bit. First, let's hone our skills and get a little more warmed up and then let's conquer chess dot com one board gamer at a time.
If you enjoyed the video, please consider hitting the Like button. It helps me out a lot!
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Follow me on Twitter: / northernlionlp
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About this game:
the horse moves like an L

[@yankee217]

The guy who said he's lacking zanyness in Isaac is really getting to his head huh

[@lunarshining7964]

I was thinking the same thing, frick whoever commented that on his video. Really wearing on Eggdaddy

[@donovantalk1015]

Which vid is this posted on?

[@lunarshining7964]

@@donovantalk1015 I believe he said the Isaac video from Christmas

[@samcates5308]

Honestly, I got into the chess series precisely because of its lack of zane - it's really interesting to see someone of your level explain their thought process because it's not like 5 levels above what I can even comprehend. Not to say that you should go all boring and min-max everything, a little zane and memery every now and then is great and I'll love the content regardless, just don't feel like you're beholden to it

[@anguskappa5637]

At the end of the day, most of us are shit at chess, and we are inspired to play because of Ryan, sometimes we want to see him play super logically so we can play better too. Rob was likely inspired by you and watching his streams he's going into the nitty gritty of the lines.

[@HCGxreaver]

So much of this!

[@cameronmaas2644]

This

[@joshb8302]

I agree. I don't mind a little zane but if he goes full Zane in this series it'll get boring.

[@Northernlion]

Generally speaking I think you can get zany in chess at this level without it compromising your ability to win that much. In general I think it'd just be more entertaining to sacrifice a little material to open games up and risk it all on some cool attacking line than just strange their position BUT we'll see

[@michealjackson3520]

NL is highly focused on making the series zanier, or less zany, when he doesn't realize that we're just happy to finally see him play chess on his channel, serious or not.

[@robinvik1]

NL: "Do I care about this?" Chess engine: "Yes." NL: "... No."

[@reecejames8660]

*Game Start* White: e4 NL: so you're not gonna believe me but I actually prefer blacks position

[@Clockworkmelon]

every single time

[@ianstu7]

Personally, I just enjoy watching you play chess and talking through your moves, I'm not so worried about how zany the games are. That being said, watching the Trompowsky was pretty litty

[@skybean]

I think your personality brings the zanyness. You don't need to play zany chess to make the videos entertaining. They are great and so fun to watch and would still be so even if every game was a draw.

[@MrRasmus2909]

I think Ryan is a pretty cool guy. Creates interesting attacks and doesn't afraid of anything.

[@miguel7888]

You could say he makes offensive and defensive moves at the same time.

[@ImEverythingYouCrave]

love this meme

[@MrRasmus2909]

@@ImEverythingYouCrave love you beb

[@cmtptr]

Y can't babby crawl

[@SilvaaFabio]

eat chit

[@caphryne]

I absolutely love your Chess videos, man. You usually have one series that I jump on until it ends and you start a new one, Check the Wire, Warzone, the Dark Souls Randomizers, DS2, Doki Doki Literature Club, Fall Guys, Spelunky 2, and of course, Chess. By far the most relaxing and interesting one is the Chess series, keep 'em coming, don't worry about the zane. You've been killin' it this year, NL.

[@GodChaos333]

Indeed I have enjoyed those series as well

[@Northernlion]

Thanks a lot!

[@_nemo]

"...I'm gonna check on our baby" So he is already training his baby in chess.

[@cameronjones7712]

Loving the chess, and I’m gonna be watching all the chess content basically no matter what. I do want to put my opinion out there that I love seeing the “boring” tight mechanical games that are hard to navigate, more than wild swingy games. Though like I said, I’m sure I’ll be around enjoying all of it

[@bitterbatterdog]

I also like both, I think it's him who doesn't like the closed games.

[@lunarshining7964]

I agree, high level play is never "boring", even without too much action

[@PinyKid]

Same

[@int3r4ct]

Little known fact: Old Ben Benoni was one of the first Grandmasters to come from Tatooine, even though he was an immigrant and not natively from Tatooine. This lead to a lot of controversy, even though the Galactic Chess Federation allowed him to play for Tatooine in tournaments.

[@fizzthewizard]

My heart. The inro. Love this.

[@user-jt5qc9og1p]

The "inro"????? You are a Neanderthal. The correct spelling is "intro." You are a failure that will never amount to anything in life due to your inability to spell "intro." I hope you have learned the error in your ways so that you may one day be a successful, contributing person to society because of your arcane knowledge of the correct spelling of "intro"

[@Clockworkmelon]

@@user-jt5qc9og1p I hope this makes them engage in some real deep inrospection

[@fizzthewizard]

@@user-jt5qc9og1p f

[@mrcrime2954]

@@user-jt5qc9og1p get em

[@ImEverythingYouCrave]

@@user-jt5qc9og1p I cannot believe this is a real reply

[@comatthew6]

Sick reference. "stop it, ron." "it's pronounced leviosaaaaaaaaaa"

[@C1tar]

hahahhahahah, the end in that last game where stonefaced NL making blunder after blunder and then winning.

[@BostonFenian]

died at "Old Ben Benoni?"

[@ubermanana6746]

coming to disney+ 2021

[@rikus6201]

Uncle Bens - - > 👁️👄👁️

[@Level80Sorcerer]

General Benoni!! Hello there!

[@DG-rd8zh]

6:26 bisschop takes pawn then take the queen and his knight is hanging, you win a pawn

[@theogreenaway7401]

Same saw this immediately I'm 1200 what is your rating

[@ZayneGoose]

Q: Who invented the pawn to c5 opening for black in chess? ... Benoni??

[@Northernlion]

Da Vinky?

[@notrab13]

I live for Ryan speaking for the engine saying “What’re you doin!!??!!?!?” on every inaccuracy, mistake, blunder, and missed win.

[@justinwhite2725]

@37:00 you have a habit of doing the best move the turn after you needed to do it. And then when the computer analysis shows you, you say ‘yeah but we did that later’. Later is too late, you need to preempt the threat.

[@batgwill]

NL isaac and chess series are good for different things, one of the great things about this series is watching chess brain work. chess brain is not zany and that’s fine

[@ajcampbellone]

NL I think I speak for a lot of people in that my enjoyment of this series comes mostly from seeing you improve and grow as a chess player. We don't care so much about zane or silly games! I think this could be a very long-lasting series (as long as you are enjoying chess, obviously) from just that aspect alone. Just my thoughts...

[@Thiefwriter]

NL, the chess content has been fantastic. We know you have your family to watch out for and you need to do whatever brings in the most money while maintaining your sanity. At the end of the day the only person who knows what that is, is you, and we'll be here to support you whatever you decide.

[@grobattackappreciator5930]

An EARLY chess video? Seems like Christmas came late this year, am I right?

[@Madhatter1781]

SANTA BROUGHT IT LATE

[@Churahm]

Isaac might lack the zaniness with its gameplay nowadays, but because you play on autopilot most of the time, it opens up more commentary zaniness which in my opinion is 1000x better and why I still love watching it

[@CaptainFlapjack002]

this conversation about "zane" feels very similar to the development of your isaac videos. At the beginning it was kinda fun to see IPECAC w/ my relection, but the real fun comes from watching you play tightly most of the time and knowing when you should take those risks to win! You are a very entertaining person to watch, no matter what you do, but don't think you need to be zany for the hell of it!

[@Releasing_the_Waves]

“Isaac isn’t zany right now.” - takes cursed eye, has an hour-long loss the same day. God bless you, Egg.

[@j.j.r98]

I legit just enjoy watching you play and explain what you’re doing. There’s no difference if the game is tight or open. Pieces being taken doesnt mean exciting all the time

[@Noah-pu4vr]

Really great video. Your commentary is easy to comprehend, often funny, and also has some good lessons for improving my chess. Keep up the great work!

[@ronaldduttweiler1578]

Real fun to watch the lesson with Levy then immediately get to watch NL play the attack. Great series

[@smoliv988]

I most enjoy watching you enjoying chess, so please play in whatever style is most enjoyable to you. Though I do have a particular fondness for seeing you apply your chess lesson strategies from Levy :)

[@alierk542]

Sneaky christmas chess? That's rojo caliente

[@blackfang04]

NL, I will watch your chess videos regardless of how crazy or normal of a player you are. It's you as a person that has kept me watching you for 11 years, not how zany your gameplay is. You could literally narrate paint drying and I would watch it and be entertained by it.

[@UDGam3rSharK]

“Not mate but mate-esque” was literally forced mate he was pointing out if undefended lmao😔 12:20

[@Pablo360able]

Levy: *plays the Trompowsky attack* *five minutes later* Levy: “I hate that they have the bishop pair”

[@justinwhite2725]

@22:56 I don’t even play chess and even I saw that was the better move. I smacked my head when you moved the queen and gain no more threats on that pawn.

[@derangedberger]

For me the most important aspect of any NL series is his enjoyment of it. Now, I'm not a youtuber so I don't know the struggle of audience engagement and needing to upload things they wanna see. But NL is a naturally interesting and funny commentator so honestly as long as he has the energy to put into a game there are few videos from him I wouldn't enjoy.

[@jorgerocha9315]

Hey Ryan I hardly know anything about chess, so it's just nice seeing you play a game that you are great at and enjoying yourself!

[@thomasfairchild5538]

Holy crap this series is LITTY

[@DivyeshVartha]

Not afraid to say it

[@HCGxreaver]

I think its fun to watch you get better at the game, we don't need any crazy moves to enjoy, I have watched every one of your chess videos including the long ones with dan/levy, and its the most fun when you are doing your big brain plays and getting better at the game. In short, the game of chess is pog and you don't need to change anything

[@FlokiDargo]

I've got no clue what's going on, all I know is that chess is big brain and I is small brain.

[@flackbyte]

If 1 d4 c5 you generally push d5 , not that the take isnt viable, but it's generally believed to be worse for white. You can also respond with e4 and go into the smith-morra gambit. When you play a game and the opponent does something unexpected in the opening it's a good idea to check it on the openings explorer tab on the analysis. That's how you learn the lines. But to give you credit game 2 was a great positional game. But above all you really need to find out about the openings tab.

[@Kevinmiami1]

Please give the Trompowsky another try; that was fun as hell to watch

[@APG93]

NL in the personality test: I offer draws on close games. NL in game 1: Clock running down and opponent promoted, King go brrrr. 😂

[@chuck22diesel]

I feel like you unlocked the True Egg Gambit; blunder away your pieces to win on time. It should be your signature move, it was highly entertaining. Please don't take this as snark, you legitimately have me trying chess for the first time at 34 years of age. I am garbage, but it's fun to learn.

[@YellowSpaceMarine]

at 6:33, after all that, he could have won back the piece Bishop takes pawn. Pawn recaptures Queen trade and now the knight is hanging and can be captured by the bishop on B4

[@zaaxi7424]

Trompowsky is pretty principled IMO, in lots of Queen's Gambit positions I get my dark squared bishop stuck in my pawns, so getting rid of it early is good especially if I can give Black trouble on their Kingside

[@JustStayPosi]

Thank you for the 49 minutes of Pog injection on this fine Monday morning

[@johngleeman8347]

Emperor Computer is always displeased with Baron Egg. XD

[@ArgonMatrix]

Really enjoying the chess content so far, but I do wonder if you might benefit from trying out some 15|10 games instead of 10 minute ones. 15|10 is less prone to time-based victories, and the clock seems to be your number one enemy a lot of the time. The games themselves might be a bit longer, but you'd always have at least a few seconds to come up with your next move, which could be some nice breathing room. That's just my two cents, though; you do you. Looking forward to more either way!

[@cday0075]

24:55 Mate in 2: Good move, nothing wrong with it Mate in 5: Best move, now you’re thinking

[@artsypoppy6872]

nl: we still have time nl 5 minutes later:(has two minutes left)

[@YamaZombies]

I love how NL spends so much time puzzling out his line, and then just doesn't follow it for the first move and wonders why it didn't work out the way he expected lmao.

[@parthdatar9359]

NL is actually playing Romantic Chess, which preceded the sort of positional nightmares that we see in the 19th century. Although serious players probably don't give much credence to it anymore, I do like this style of tactical fighting as opposed to careful maneuvering.

[@BIGWUNuvDbunch]

This man is gonna swish and flick his way into the US open

[@gabrote42]

Zanyness unneeded. Your natural charms more than satisfy any madness requirements. Just don't go into time trouble by outhinking yourself.

[@litapd311]

the most pog moment of this video is hearing that luna had a nice Christmas sleep

[@mrhollw00d83]

The Best Video I've Seen All Day (Chess)

[@Mike23443]

NL's genius is simply so advanced and complicated that the chess engine can't even vibe on the same wavelength.

[@justinwhite2725]

@31:00 if you had paid more attention to your tutor you’d have moved that pawn first before moving the knight.

[@leomar8577]

Those who refuse to push King side pawns "even" after castling there are doomed to fail. NL has no such weakness.

[@jackbicknell4711]

Well, you should avoid it where possible no?

[@RageYourSoul]

at 24:00 it was a missed win ebcause his only option was to block with bishop, but YOUR bishop is targeting that spot and it would be check mate next move

[@Zedd8787]

I try not to think too much about what's the best move because, while I've learned a lot from watching this series and the lessons from Levy (I started with basically just a knowledge of how the pieces move and what check and checkmate mean), one of three things always happen when I think I spot something brilliant: a) NL does that move and I feel really proud and then the computer (or Levy) hates it in the analysis b) NL doesn't do that move and then does it later because if he didn't do something else first he'd probably be mated in 2 or c) as soon as I think of it NL says "Now I know you're thinking: I should _____" and then shows exactly why it's a terrible idea Mostly "c" if I'm bein' honest. Love the series - will keep coming back as long as you want to keep makin 'em :)

[@Tyletoful]

Old Ben Benoni is an amazing joke. Under-appreciated for sure.

[@tannercaruthers5535]

The pawn on d5 in the first game was absorbing an absolutely unbelievable amount of pressure. The spongiest of pawns.

[@jeroenvb31415]

Hey man, that first game was very nice! In the analysis, @24:22 No, it's not a similar situation! Black can only defend by giving up the bishop on f8, which means you're up a rook. Sorry for the backseating, but sometimes you cut the analysis too short :-) Nevertheless, absolutely pogged!

[@nuce5430]

At 6:30 you coulda taken w/ bishop, he takes w/ pawn, you take with queen across the board, bishop takes queen, and the knights free

[@nuce5430]

If he then decides to take your knight, you take his rook

[@GodChaos333]

I love how NL got to use one of the NU tec that Levy showed him. That second game was very interesting.

[@deadbatteriesfreeofcharge438]

NL proving that sometimes thinking less is actually thinking more

[@JamesLaChance1]

34:08 careful what you're drawing there NL. Twitter is looking over your shoulder on that one.

[@scalion44y22]

except, its not even close to what I think you are referring to

[@FoxVert]

1:49 A Freudian mis-click?

[@Pattonator14]

This was fun, I always love sacs for 2 pawns or to open an attack, hope opponents continue to offer the Trumpowski for you

[@oivindification]

32:40 Me whenever someone asks me what I'm doing with my life

[@george_miller_1089]

6:25: 17. Bxe4 dxe4 18. Qxd7 Bxd7 19. Bxe7 Rfe8 Sac the bishop, leaving you with an opponent's undefended knight on e7. Or,,, 19. Ng5 Since the e7 knight is locked in place by the rook at f8.

[@justinwhite2725]

@47:48 wow. This blunder turned the tables. Look at that bar change in your favour!

[@gamegeekage]

Should've take prior to dark squared bishop move. Was almost forced mate. Trade down to rook, bishop blocks, take with bishop, bishop a6 is mate if no counterplay

[@MystiInferno]

OOH, Early chess vid! Love it!

[@theogreenaway7401]

I'm 1200 rated saw this immediately cool move 6:30 bishop takes the pawn on e4 d takes e4 queen takes queen bishop takes back bishop on b4 takes knight on e7 EDIT just analysed next is move bishop away from danger your knight is taken by a pawn then take back

[@Andriak2]

At 6:25 how about Bxe4 because if dxe4 you have Qxd7, Bxd7, Bxe7 this allows exf3 but you're attacking their rook on f8. After trades material is equal and you've escaped.

[@dima1478]

I forgot about the dark squared bishop in the first game missed that beautiful checkmate too

[@RedHeadAlive09]

NL is starting to overthink HARD

[@Hao1981]

You are actually stressful for me to watch ;') Had you made Alekhines Gun a move earlier... but no you force their knight away so they can add it to their backrankdefense hahaha

[@PurpleColonel]

Classic folk song "Go Tell Benoni"

[@demnuh]

41:38 Egg hear me out: nh6, kg7 ; qh5 and then you just demolish them

[@lunarshining7964]

The greatest way to start your day (Chess)

[@csguy3223]

Dang. That first game was cool. You came back from a really bad situation

[@jvcmarc]

5:20 you had but played it in the wrong order that was heartbreaking edit: also, you could have taken the pawn on e4, because the pawn on d5 was pinned to the queen

[@manofpowe]

Thanks for the late Christmas company

[@trbry.]

I wonder when NL will start mentoring Hikaru.

[@foxyr4bbit]

2 wins on christmas morning = 2 losses on christmas morning for other ppl, such a grinch!!

[@mskcrc]

Watching Ryan just casually ignore an undefended passed pawn on the 7th rank for like 8 moves... what the actual fuck are you doing bro and later, he moves his knight to a semi-open file to x-ray the king... instead of his rooks

[@Ch4rmander]

In the position NL is considering around the 9:00 mark, couldn't the black queen take the pawn at b5? It doesn't seem like it's protected in any way (I'm not a chess player though) Edit: oh yeah it eventually did

[@absurdist5134]

Hey NL. Hope you had a nice Christmas with the family. POGGERS.

[@MV-uo5dq]

I have no idea if the chess jargon he is using is real or made up on the spot and I love it.

[@crimzonzealot1061]

the lord of the zane said isaac is lacking? the dlc jus cant come fast enough

[@ImperatorZed]

5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel series please!

[@matthijs2981]

Honestly both these games were beautiful

[@Hope16449]

6:32 just take with the bishop? After pawn takes you remove the defender of the knight by taking the queen and then threaten to take the rook

[@hellzbasket7653]

Happy holiday season NL

[@Efrolof]

The chess content is immaculate *chef's kiss*